E46 Projector in Aftermarket Headlight

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AK Rover

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I drive a 2005 Ford Super Duty that currently running HIDs in my stock headlights and foglights, as well as 4 Lightforce 170s. Needless to say I have a lot of light out in front of me.

I've been shopping around because I like the looks of the projector style headlights that are available for my truck but I've heard really mixed reviews about their performance. On the other hand I know for a fact how well the E46 projector like Mercedes and BMW use perform and was thinking of trying to mate the E46 projector into an aftermarket projector housing for my truck. Does this make sense? Has anyone done or even thought about something like this?

My plan is to use the high and low beam function of the E46 projector and use the high beam built into the projector headlights as an extra driving light that would be tied into the high beam switch but also have a separate switch so I can turn them off.
 
What you're talking about is called a projector retrofit and it's done all the time. I did it on my '04 WRX using Acura TL projectors and it's probably the most satisfying mod I made on that car. Check out http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/ for a ton of information on the process. Fair warning though it can quickly become an expensive mod.
 
Aftermarket projector headlights are notorious for having terrible projectors. Usually it's a 2.5" H3 projector with a tiny bowl and mediocre performance.

The E46 projector is a much better choice. A couple CPF members, myself included, have projector retrofits.

Although CPF has more general automotive lighting resources, and definitely the best info on halogens, HIDPlanet has more info specific to HID and projector retrofitting. I have an E46 laying around the shop, and it's a pretty solid projector.

Biggest thing is to match up the lens, though.
Most projectors are 2.5" or 3", with a couple 2" projectors. E46 are 3". Ideally, for best fitment, you should go for the same size projector. If it came with a 2.5", you'll really have to hack up the housing to fit an E46. But a 2.5" projector would be fine. Or, if it came with 3", E46 should fit great.
 
AK Rover said:
I drive a 2005 Ford Super Duty that currently running HIDs in my stock headlights and foglights as well as 4 Lightforce 170s. Needless to say I have a lot of light out in front of me.
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Right, but it's dangerously badly focused light. "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps and foglamps (any kit, any lamp, any vehicle) do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. See here.

I've been shopping around because I like the looks of the projector style headlights that are available for my truck but I've heard really mixed reviews about their performance.
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The aftermarket headlamps (all of them, whether they're original style or differently-styled with projectors, etc.) are trash.

Has anyone done or even thought about something like this?
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Yes. Removing the optics from one headlamp and installing them in another can be done, but it is a great deal more complicated and difficult to do correctly than is commonly understood. Generally the process goes along the lines of "bake the headlight assembly to open it (loosen the adhesive), cut the reflector, paint it black, mount HID projector, aim, re-bake and silicon shut". It has been done successfully, but there are all kinds of challenges and problems. Silicone-based sealants produce gases that attack and fog-up the lamp optics. The projector has to be mounted with extreme precision; if you get the center of gravity wrong, it will shake-rattle-and-roll out of alignment and eventually off its mounts. The low beam projector has to be aimed correctly relative to high beam (not a problem if you use a BiXenon projector). You usually cannot get a good and durable seal after the lamp's been baked...so it's really not as easy as it might seem.
 
The modular ones work, but if you're going through the hassle of actually mounting them inside of the aftermarket headlamps rather than just replacing the headlamps with them, they're relatively expensive and have poor output compared to most bi-xenon projectors.

Most of the time, the projectors are mounted on either three or four holes, where the lens holder meets the bowl, when they are in the factory applications. As long as you mount the projector using the same holes where it was mounted in its original application, and construct the brackets to be durable, you'll be fine.

Sealing is an issue. Don't use silicone, it will fog. The best thing you can use is Nissan butyl headlight sealant. It's the same material as used from the factory, and comes in a couple of feet long roll for under twenty bucks.
 
I've had good luck mounting Hella modules in several vehicles. I don't bother with cutting apart the stock composite lamps, trying to fit the Hella's in properly, and then resealing the whole mess. I just use the Hella modules alone.
 
Diesel_Bomber said:
I've had good luck mounting Hella modules in several vehicles. I don't bother with cutting apart the stock composite lamps, trying to fit the Hella's in properly, and then resealing the whole mess. I just use the Hella modules alone.
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That's really the best way to do it. It completely eliminates a whole bunch of issues with mounting, sealing, and alignment. And the range of available modules is much bigger than most people realize. There are numerous different halogen, BiHalogen, xenon, BiXenon, SAE and ECE modules. Just in halogen low beams for RH traffic, I know of one H1 ECE unit, two H7 ECE units, an H7 SAE unit, and an H9 SAE unit. Then there are ECE and SAE D2S Xenon units (possibly two versions of one or both of those), then there are two ECE and two SAE D2S BiXenons, an SAE and an ECE H7 BiHalogen. And that's without getting into all the different high beam units!

Other companies make 90mm modules, too, such as Hamsar; they have D1S Xenon, H11 and H9 halogen...and now they have an LED 90mm low beam projector, too.

And Valeo and ZKW also make modules, so does Rinder and Farba and Simsa, but all of those are difficult to get hold of.
 
Diesel_Bomber said:
Thanks for the link to Hamsar, really interesting stuff. How does their LED low beam do?
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It meets the legal requirements; it's a very good start. Its objective beam performance (saying nothing about what the beam looks like up against a wall) is pretty much equivalent to that of a Hella 7" round H4 headlamp on low beam with a standard 60/55w bulb...and it does it all with 13 or 14 watts' power consumption. The construction of the lamp is really elegant, too. They say an ECE version is in the works.
 
Kuryakin said:
At only 12 watts, something tells me not to be impressed by its output.
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How do you figure? Last Autumn I saw a 14w LED headlamp producing a beam with performance equivalent to a very good halogen "55w" lamp.
 
I've searched all over but can't find a distributor. Any figures on the price of that LED low beam?
 
Given that LEDs of this power range rarely exceed 80 lumens per watt, we're not even talking about 1000 lumens. And I doubt these are built with MCE or P7 emitters, etc. So...

BTW, where and what make, etc., was this LED headlamp you observed?

Scheinwerfermann said:
How do you figure? Last Autumn I saw a 14w LED headlamp producing a beam with performance equivalent to a very good halogen "55w" lamp.
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Depends on why others aren't meeting DOT requirements. LEDs at 12 watts just won't throw all that many lumens. HID can make 3200 lumens, heck, the H7s make over 1500.

Alaric Darconville said:
Is it not impressive that it complies with DOT requirements for a low beam headlamp? I'd say that's quite impressive-- there are a lot of aftermarket lights that use 55W bulbs that don't meet DOT requirements.
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Kuryakin said:
Depends on why others aren't meeting DOT requirements. LEDs at 12 watts just won't throw all that many lumens. HID can make 3200 lumens, heck, the H7s make over 1500.
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Oops, you're confusing light source lumens with lumens-in-beam. Put an H7 producing 1500 lumens in an optic that is 40% efficient, and you have ____ lumens in the beam. Put an 880-lumen LED emitter array in an optic that is 70% efficient, and you have ____ lumens in the beam. You do the math!
 
I agree, but, if the optics are similarly efficient, well, you do the math!

So, we don't know unless someone tests one. We're debating in a vacuum.


Scheinwerfermann said:
Oops, you're confusing light source lumens with lumens-in-beam. Put an H7 producing 1500 lumens in an optic that is 40% efficient, and you have ____ lumens in the beam. Put an 880-lumen LED emitter array in an optic that is 70% efficient, and you have ____ lumens in the beam. You do the math!
Click to expand...
 
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